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- Maya (21)
- Mexico (17)
- Archaeology (15)
- Quintana Roo (15)
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- Architecture (4)
- Book review (4)
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- Cenotes (3)
- Chicle (3)
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Articles 1 - 30 of 34
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Chicle: The Chewing Gum Of The Americas, From The Ancient Maya To William Wrigley, Jennifer Mathews, Gillian Schultz
Chicle: The Chewing Gum Of The Americas, From The Ancient Maya To William Wrigley, Jennifer Mathews, Gillian Schultz
Jennifer P Mathews
Although Juicy Fruit® gum was introduced to North Americans in 1893, Native Americans in Mesoamerica were chewing gum thousands of years earlier. And although in the last decade “biographies” have been devoted to salt, spices, chocolate, coffee, and other staples of modern life, until now there has never been a full history of chewing gum. Chicle is a history in four acts, all of them focused on the sticky white substance that seeps from the sapodilla tree when its bark is cut. First, Jennifer Mathews recounts the story of chicle and its earliest-known adherents, the Maya and Aztecs. Second, with …
The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
This volume attempts to get at the interpretations of the archaeological record from the back-end by studying the modern Maya metate life cycle, including procurement, production, acquisition, use and discard. The author spent two years in Guatemala conducting ethnographic research with metate producers and users in three Maya communities. It is through this rich research that he greatly expands our understanding of metates by providing background of their complexity through several avenues. For example, he documents contemporary gifting traditions, noting that families still give metates as wedding gifts to couples, even as their use decreases with the presence of electric …
Jungle Rails: A Historic Narrow-Gauge Railway In Quintana Roo, Jennifer Mathews, Lilia Lizama-Rogers
Jungle Rails: A Historic Narrow-Gauge Railway In Quintana Roo, Jennifer Mathews, Lilia Lizama-Rogers
Jennifer P Mathews
Whereas much of this volume is focused on the ancient Maya, this chapter will highlight the historic chicle industry; the associated railway that traversed the northern corner of Quintana Roo, Mexico; and the recent documentation of the feature through archaeological fieldwork. We believe this to be an important slice of history in Quintana Roo because the lives of the modern Maya often lie in the shadow of their ancient ancestors. Since 1997, members of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project have been studying the 40 km railway, which runs between the modern pueblos of Leona Vicario and Puerto Morelos (Mathews …
Cosmopolitan Living? Examining The Sugar And Rum Industry Of The Costa Escondida, Quintana Roo Mexico, Jennifer Mathews, John Gust
Cosmopolitan Living? Examining The Sugar And Rum Industry Of The Costa Escondida, Quintana Roo Mexico, Jennifer Mathews, John Gust
Jennifer P Mathews
No abstract provided.
El Proyecto Regional De Ecología Humana Yalahau: Una Introducción A Las Investigaciones Y Los Resúmes De Estudios Llevados Acabo Desde 1993-2000, Scott Fedick, Jennifer Mathews, Bethany Morrison
El Proyecto Regional De Ecología Humana Yalahau: Una Introducción A Las Investigaciones Y Los Resúmes De Estudios Llevados Acabo Desde 1993-2000, Scott Fedick, Jennifer Mathews, Bethany Morrison
Jennifer P Mathews
No abstract provided.
The Value Of Things: Commodities In The Maya Region From Prehistoric To Contemporary, Jennifer Mathews, Thomas Guderjan
The Value Of Things: Commodities In The Maya Region From Prehistoric To Contemporary, Jennifer Mathews, Thomas Guderjan
Jennifer P Mathews
No abstract provided.
Wetland Manipulation In The Yalahau Region Of The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Bethany A. Morrison, Bente Juhl Andersen, Sylviane Boucher, Jorge Ceja Acosta, Jennifer P. Mathews
Wetland Manipulation In The Yalahau Region Of The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Bethany A. Morrison, Bente Juhl Andersen, Sylviane Boucher, Jorge Ceja Acosta, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Manipulation of wetlands for agricultural purposes by the ancient Maya of southern Mexico and Central America has been a subject of much research and debate since the 1970s. Evidence for wetland cultivation systems, in the form of drained or channelized fields, and raised planting platforms, has been restricted primarily to the southern Maya Lowlands. New research in the Yalahau region of Quintana Roo, Mexico, has recorded evidence for wetland manipulation in the far northern lowlands, in the form of rock alignments that apparently functioned to control water movement and soil accumulation in seasonally inundated areas. Nearby ancient settlements date primarily …
The Hidden World Of The Maritime Maya: Lost Landscapes Along The North Coast Of Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jeffrey Glover, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
The Hidden World Of The Maritime Maya: Lost Landscapes Along The North Coast Of Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jeffrey Glover, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
At the northeast tip of the Yucatán Peninsula - where the Caribbean meets the Gulf of Mexico - lies a wild and largely unexplored coastline that bore witness to one of the greatest seafaring traditions of the ancient New World (Fig. 11.1). Maya traders once plied the waters of the Laguna Holbox in massive dugout canoes filled with goods from across Mesoamerica (Thompson 1949; Edwards 1973, p. 201; Romero 1991; Romero and Gurrola Briones 1991, 1995; Leshikar 1996). Each port was a link in a chain connecting people and ideas, and supporting the ambitions of city and state. Maritime trade …
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, Kathryn Sorensen
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, Kathryn Sorensen
Jennifer P Mathews
Ancient Maya communities, from small village sites to urban centers, have long posed problems to archaeologists in attempting to define the boundaries or limits of settlement. These ancient communities tend to be relatively dispersed, with settlement densities dropping toward the periphery, but lacking any clear boundary. At a limited number of sites, the Maya constructed walled enclosures or earthworks, which scholars have generally interpreted as defensive projects, often hastily built to protect the central districts of larger administrative centers during times of warfare (e.g., Demarest et al. 1997; Inomata 1997; Kurjack and Andrews 1976; Puleston and Callender 1967; Webster 2000; …
Uaxactun, Jennifer Mathews
Uaxactun, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Sylvanus Morley of the Carnegie Institution of Washington discovered the ancient Maya site of Uaxactun (17.4° N, 89.6° W) in 1916 (see also Map 3). He soon encountered a stela (upright stone monument) with the Long Count date 8.14.10.13.15, April 11, AD 328 (see also Calendar). Since this was the first monument with a cycle 8 glyph ever found, he named the site "Uaxactun" from the Maya uaxac, meaning "eight," and tun, meaning "stone." In addition to Morley, a number of notable Carnegie Institution archaeologists worked at the site, including Frans Blom, Oliver Ricketson, A. Ledyard Smith, and Edwin Shook. …
Tenth To Thirteenth Centuries: Peak Of Post-Classical Maya Culture (Chichén Itzá), Jennifer Mathews
Tenth To Thirteenth Centuries: Peak Of Post-Classical Maya Culture (Chichén Itzá), Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
No abstract provided.
A Pre-Columbian World [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
A Pre-Columbian World [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
This excellent volume arose out of the 2001 Dumbarton Oaks symposium, “A Pre-Columbian World.” The proposal of the symposium, in response to the recent trend of hyperdifferentiating cultures and emphasizing geographic and cultural boundaries, was to examine commonalities of the pre-Columbian world. The subsequent well-crafted, 11-chapter volume examines “the Americas” through the research of scholars working in North, Central, and South America. A number of themes emerge, including a call to Americanist archaeologists to remember that the geographic and political boundaries that we have placed on the ancient world are not real and that we should once again consider the …
Megalithic Architecture At The Site Of Victoria, Quintana Roo, Jennifer P. Mathews
Megalithic Architecture At The Site Of Victoria, Quintana Roo, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Megalithische Architektur in der archäologischen Stätte Victoria in Quintana Roo, Mexiko. Das "Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project" der University of California, Riverside und der Trinity University, San Antonio erforscht seit 1993 die archäologischen Stätten in der Region von Tumben-Naranjal im nördlichen Quintana Roo. Im Jahr 1997 wurde der zuvor nicht bekannte Fundort Victoria im Munizip von Leona Vicario dokumentiert und vermessen. Neben einer kolonialzeitlichen Kirche ließen sich verschiedene Strukturen nachweisen, deren Architektur im megalithischen Stil ausgeführt ist. Die megalithische Bauweise ist charakteristisch für die Zeit der späten Präklassik und frühen Klassik auf der Halbinsel Yukatan. Arquitectura megalítica en el sitio …
Models Of Cosmic Order: Physical Expression Of Sacred Space Among The Ancient Maya, Jennifer P. Mathews, James F. Garber
Models Of Cosmic Order: Physical Expression Of Sacred Space Among The Ancient Maya, Jennifer P. Mathews, James F. Garber
Jennifer P Mathews
The archaeological record, as well as written texts, oral traditions, and iconographic representations, express the Maya perception of cosmic order, including the concepts of quadripartite division and layered cosmos. The ritual act of portioning and layering created spatial order and was used to organize everything from the heavens to the layout of altars. These acts were also metaphors for world creation, world order, and establishing the center as a position of power and authority. This article examines the articulations of these concepts from the level of caches to the level of regions from the past and present in an attempt …
San Bartolo, Jennifer Mathews
San Bartolo, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
The ancient Maya site of San Bartolo (17.5° N, 89.4° W) was a regional capital located approximately 30 km northeast of Uaxactun in the Department of the Petén, Guatemala (see also Map 3). It is located within the 430 km² San Bartolo-Xultun Territory, which is dominated by bajos (seasonally inundated swamps or wetlands), forming a natural boundary around the area. These bajos are filled with stunted vegetation, including the palo de tinte tree, which the Maya harvested and used as a natural dye. The territory also contains many aguadas (ponds that have been modified by humans) and chert sources, which …
Privateering, Piracy And British Policy In Spanish America 1810-1830 [Review], Jennifer Mathews
Privateering, Piracy And British Policy In Spanish America 1810-1830 [Review], Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
No abstract provided.
Archaeologists Working With The Contemporary Yucatec Maya, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
Archaeologists Working With The Contemporary Yucatec Maya, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
The nature of an archaeological project often requires that researchers establish a temporary residence in a local community. Concern for conditions that affect, and are affected by, their presence in this new place and space is often considered peripheral to the task of realizing research objectives. In fact, many archaeologists would admit to enjoying a certain sense of security in their perceived temporal, and therefore legitimized, dislocation from their object of study. In the most extreme cases, an archaeologist might resemble a geologist – extracting, observing, or examining symbolically inert physical material with little regard to contemporary cultural contexts.
Lifeways In The Northern Maya Lowlands: New Approaches To Archaeology In The Yucatán Peninsula, Jennifer Mathews, Bethany Morrison
Lifeways In The Northern Maya Lowlands: New Approaches To Archaeology In The Yucatán Peninsula, Jennifer Mathews, Bethany Morrison
Jennifer P Mathews
The flat, dry reaches of the northern Yucatan Peninsula have been largely ignored by archaeologists drawn to the more illustrious sites of the south. This book is the first volume to focus entirely on the northern Maya lowlands, presenting a broad cross-section of current research projects in the region by both established and up-and-coming scholars. To address the heretofore unrecognized importance of the northern lowlands in Maya prehistory, the contributors cover key topics relevant to Maya studies: the environmental and historical significance of the region, the archaeology of both large and small sites, the development of agriculture, resource management, ancient …
Radiocarbon Dating Of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study In The Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jennifer P. Mathews
Radiocarbon Dating Of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study In The Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
The use of radiocarbon dating to analyze mortar and charcoal inclusions within mortar or plaster is a useful way to date the construction of architecture, particularly when options for other chronometric methods are limited. In the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, members of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project have faced challenges in dating buildings made of large blocks of stone in the Megalithic architectural style. The Megalithic style poses serious problems for any analysis, as excavating into structures with stones weighing several tons can be dangerous, expensive, and time consuming. Additionally, there are no associated sculptures, texts …
The Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project: An Introduction And Summary Of Recent Research, Scott Fedick, Jennifer Mathews
The Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project: An Introduction And Summary Of Recent Research, Scott Fedick, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
The Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project was initiated in 1993 to investigate ancient Maya settlement patterns, land use, and political organization within a unique wetland-dominated environmental region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico (see fig. 2.1). Although the Yucatán Peninsula has seen a great deal of archaeological research over the last several decades, the northeastern corner has been one of the least examined areas of the northern Maya lowlands. Prior to the initiation of the Yalahau project, little archaeological investigation had been conducted in the region beyond brief visits and preliminary investigations by Alberto Escalona Ramos in 1937 (1946), William Sanders …
The Box Ni Group Of Naranjal, And Early Architecture Of The Maya Lowlands, Jennifer P. Mathews
The Box Ni Group Of Naranjal, And Early Architecture Of The Maya Lowlands, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
The distinctive Early Classic megalithic style of the northern Maya Lowlands did not exist in isolation, but rather shared a number of features with monumental architecture of the central Petén. One particularly striking example is the triadic platform grouping, found at Naranjal as well as Uaxactún and other early sites of the northern and southern lowlands. The temporal and geographic distribution of Maya triadic platform groupings are reviewed in conjunction with such shared architectural features as rounded corners. These comparisons support the early dating ofmegalithic architecture and help define the special characteristics of this northern lowland style.
Artículos De Costa: Las Industrias Extractivas De Fines Del Siglo Xix Y Principios Del Siglo Xx En El Norte De Quintana Roo, México, Jennifer Mathews, Stephanie Croatt, John Gust
Artículos De Costa: Las Industrias Extractivas De Fines Del Siglo Xix Y Principios Del Siglo Xx En El Norte De Quintana Roo, México, Jennifer Mathews, Stephanie Croatt, John Gust
Jennifer P Mathews
No abstract provided.
Archaeology Meccas Of Tourism: Exploration, Protection, And Exploitation, Quetzil Castañeda, Jennifer Mathews
Archaeology Meccas Of Tourism: Exploration, Protection, And Exploitation, Quetzil Castañeda, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
This chapter is divided into two distinct sections that are positioned in a point-counterpoint structure of dialogue. These two position statements invoke the etymological meanings of the word essay: to attempt, put to the test, trial, to act out, to explore, travel, or to travail. The first is an historical analysis written in the third person by an anthropologist whose expertise includes the ethnography of archaeology and the anthropology of tourism. The second is a counterpoint commentary written by an anthropologist whose specializations include Pre-Columbian and historical archaeology. Both of us have significant research experience in the same area of …
Preliminary Evidence For The Existence Of A Regional Sacbe Across The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Dawn Reid, Jennifer P. Mathews
Preliminary Evidence For The Existence Of A Regional Sacbe Across The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Dawn Reid, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Ancient road systems have often been used by archaeologists to reconstruct interaction and political ties among prehistoric settlements. Roads built by the ancient Maya offer many insights into the political geography of the area, particularly in the northern lowlands where hieroglyphic texts are rare. This study examines ethnohistoric, historic, and archaeological data that suggest that a regional road, some 300 km in length, once spanned the northern lowlands from the modern location of Mérida to the east coast facing the island of Cozumel. The political implications of such a road, if it once existed, are discussed.
Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life In Mesoamerica [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life In Mesoamerica [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Using the material remains found in and around ancient Maya domestic spaces in three settlements in Honduras, Hendon examines how aspects of everyday life, rather than ritual and commemoration, transform these shared spaces into ‘places of memory’. She argues that social memory is a reconstructive process and that human groups re-envision the past in light of present circumstances. Social memory – or what she refers to as ‘memory communities' – would have involved an interaction with the remains of the dead, buried within the context of their social spaces. In other words, memory is an active process that binds people …
Late Formative And Early Classic Interaction Spheres Reflected In The Megalithic Styles, Jennifer Mathews, Rubén Cárdenas
Late Formative And Early Classic Interaction Spheres Reflected In The Megalithic Styles, Jennifer Mathews, Rubén Cárdenas
Jennifer P Mathews
Interpreting the politics of the Late Formative and Early Classic periods has special challenges. This chapter examines the topic in the Yucatán Peninsula through the concept of the interaction sphere, as reflected in shared architectural styles.
Yalahau Region, Jennifer Mathews
Yalahau Region, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
This 3,000-km² region is located in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, in the northeastern corner of the Yucatan Peninsula. The boundary of this region runs from the north coast 75 km southward, is 40 km wide, and is defined primarily by its unique water resources. It is characterized by a karstic limestone platform that contains only a few small lakes and no surface rivers. Despite this, it has the most abundant water sources of the entire peninsula. First, it receives the greatest annual rainfall of the northern Maya lowlands (up to 2,000 mm), which recharges an underground aquifer and contributes …
A Tale Of Two Projects: Comparative Findings Of The Cras And Yalahau Projects, Jennifer Mathews
A Tale Of Two Projects: Comparative Findings Of The Cras And Yalahau Projects, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
I have worked with Justine M. Shaw in the Yucatán peninsula for more than 20 years, and it is a real pleasure to see the summation of her project's work thus far in this edited volume. As codirector of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project (with Scott Fedick), I have worked to the north of the CRAS project in the Yalahau region of Quintana Roo. The CRAS and Yalahau projects have shared a similar trajectory for many years. Although both projects have focused several seasons on individual sites (for example, El Naranjal, T'isil, Vista Alegre, and Xuxub in the Yalahu …
Quintana Roo Archaeology, Justine Shaw, Jennifer Mathews
Quintana Roo Archaeology, Justine Shaw, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Mexico’s southern state of Quintana Roo is often perceived by archaeologists as a blank spot on the map of the Maya world, a region generally assumed to hold little of interest thanks to its relative isolation from the rest of Mexico. But salvage archaeology required by recent development along the “Maya Riviera,” along with a suite of other ongoing and recent research projects, have shown that the region was critical in connecting coastal and inland zones, and it is now viewed as an important area in its own right from Preclassic through post-contact times. The first volume devoted to the …
Chichén Itzá, Jennifer Mathews